Parents of sisters who were ‘found holding hands’ after drowning in floods reveal final text they sent
The heartbreaking final text message from a pair of sisters who tragically lost their lives in the Texas Hill Country floods has been shared by their parents.
Blair, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, were staying in a rented cabin along the Guadalupe River in Hunt with their grandparents Mike and Charlene Harber when the disaster struck in the early hours of Friday (4 July) morning.
Their bodies were found around 12 hours after the floods hit the Casa Bonita cabin community they were staying in with their family.
A GoFundMe has since been set up to help the family and the girls’ aunt, Jennifer Harber, harrowingly revealed a message they sent to their parents at 3:30am.
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She wrote in the description of the fundraiser: “Brooke texted my brother, her Grandmother and Grandfather on Annie’s side saying I love you at 3:30am.”
She heartbreakingly added that when Blair and Brooke were found about 15 miles away from the cabin, ‘their hands were locked together’.
According to the fundraiser, the girls’ grandparents are still missing and efforts are ongoing to find them.
Blair and Brooke’s parents, RJ and Annie, were staying in a cabin nearby and were awoken by the sounds of the storm and flooding at around 3:30am.
They had to break a window and jump out to escape as ‘the water was rising one foot per minute’ and it was up to their necks by the time they got out.
RJ borrowed a kayak from a neighbour and began paddling towards the cabin his daughters were staying, who he had ‘tucked in bed at 11pm’.
However, the waters were too rough and high and he ‘knew he would be swept away,’ after ‘a swell knocked him into a post’ so he had to go back to where the other survivors had taken shelter.
RJ told the Wall Street Journal: “I shined a flashlight out there, and I could see it was white water, and I’ve kayaked enough to know that that was gonna be impossible.
“There were cars floating at me and trees floating at me. I knew if I took even one stroke further, it was gonna be a death sentence.”
He could see that another cabin had detached from its foundation and was pushed up against the side of the cabin where his family were staying.
Back with his wife and the other survivors, a family on higher ground let them in where they sheltered for the night.
After sunrise, the flooding had calmed down enough so that RJ could go to the cabin his daughters and parents were staying in. However, it had been completely swept away.
The girls’ aunt Jennifer wrote on the GoFundMe page: “Brook and Blair will have a joint funeral at St. Rita. To be determined. We haven’t even had time to figure out my parents. We need to find them first.
“We are beyond devastated and so heartbroken. Prayers are much appreciated and what we needed at this time.
“Please help us find my parents so we can have closure and bring them home.”
The death toll from the catastrophic flash floods has climbed to at least 107, and the Texas governor has confirmed that more than 160 people are still missing.
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe here.
Topics: GoFundMe, News, US News, World News
Madison Burgess